How to play Largo in Dota 2 – New hero guide

Largo is the newest hero in Dota 2, released in patch 7.40. It has truly been a while since we’ve seen a new hero added to the game, so let’s make him count. Here is everything you need to know about playing Largo.

Understanding Largo At A Glance

When you look at Largo, it’s pretty obvious that his role fits into the support role, as half of his abilities are focused on enabling his teammates.

Largo is a strength and melee hero, making him potent in the laning stage. He has relatively high base damage at 65, but most importantly, 650 health and 4 armor at level 1.

This makes him chonky, allowing him to be a solid laning support that can absorb damage for his cores – similar to something like Tusk, Ogre Magi, or Treant Protector.

What role is Largo in Dota 2?

Though it’s debatable which support position Largo should be played as, I believe he’s slightly better as a Soft Support, as he functions best with more farm priority (discussed later in the article). However, he works just fine as a Hard Support, especially when paired up with a ranged carry like Drow Ranger or Morphling.

How To REALLY Use Largo’s Abilities

Largo has an interesting set of abilities. Let’s understand what each of them does and how you can use them:.

Catchy Lick (Q)

Largo’s first ability allows him to lick a targeted unit with his tongue, pulling them back a short distance. Catchy Lick can be used on allies and enemies:

• When used on an ally, it applies a basic dispel
• When used on an enemy, it deals damage and removes buffs

Catchy Lick provides incredible utility for a Dota support hero, as it essentially functions as a Force Staff that can reposition allies and pull them out of danger. However, the best part about it is the basic dispel – this means you can cleanse your allies from annoying abilities such as Battle Hunger or Venomous Gale.

Largo’s Catchy Lick also works well against foes. He can pull back enemies trying to run away and bring them closer to his team. And let’s not forget that it removes the enemy hero’s buffs. This means buffs such as Glimmer Cape, Solar Crest, and others can be completely removed.

Overall, Catchy Lick has a pretty high cast range and is an extremely flexible spell. This ability has a very high skill ceiling, and you can use it for many things.

Frogstomp (W)

Largo’s Frogstop is a pretty easy spell to understand. He throws out froglings in an Area of Effect that deals damage, slows, and mini stuns.

Though the damage isn’t too significant, it can be amplified by his third ability. Still, the most useful aspects of the spell come from the slows and mini stuns. The spell is particularly important because it is Largo’s only way of canceling TP Scroll channels.

And though many players find this spell pretty underwhelming in teamfights due to the lack of damage, it serves very well as Largo’s farming tool. This ability allows him to clear waves and farm Dota 2 creeps to reach his item timings.

Croak of Genius (E)

Croak of Genius is arguably Largo’s most interesting spell. It is an ally-targeted spell that reduces item and ability mana costs, while also applying damage over time to enemies affected by spells cast under the duration.

Also note that Largo can cast it on himself to apply the damage over time to his spells, particularly Frogstomp.

The reduced mana cost reminds you of heroes that provide mana steroids, such as Keeper of the Light and Pugna. So, it synergizes well with heroes that expend lots of mana, like Storm Spirit, Puck, or Leshrac.

However, what really makes this ability shine is the reverberating damage. This spell is incredibly effective with heroes that have high AoE coverage, like Leshrac, Batrider, and others. The lingering damage is also great for canceling Blink Daggers.

Amphibian Rhapsody (R)

Finally, we have Largo’s ultimates, which are definitely one of the more unique ones in the game. He changes to a “strumming stance,” where he gets a new set of abilities. The ultimate is a toggle ability, meaning you can switch stances without spending any mana or cooldowns.

In the ultimate stance, you’ll have three abilities to strum:

• Bullbelly Blitz (Q): Gives your team spell amplification and bonus damage.
• Hotfeet Hustle (W): Gives your team movement speed and slow resistance.
• Island Elixir (E): Gives your teammates healing.

So, you’re pretty much just strumming based on what your team needs. The ability itself is pretty straightforward – the only challenge is being able to switch between stances efficiently in the middle of fights.

Pro Tip: Seeing Largo’s ultimate radius can be tricky, especially when you’re in the middle of a chaotic teamfight. To help you keep track, you can hold Alt and right-click the ultimate button, and you’ll have a permanent indicator of the ultimate’s radius. You can turn it off by doing the same thing.

Largo’s Innate and Aghanim’s Are Game Changers

Before you spam Largo and play in the 7.40 update, it’s very important to have an understanding of Largo’s innate abilities and Aghanim’s upgrades.

Largo Innate Ability – Encore

This innate ability is probably what makes Largo so special. Buffs that Largo applies to himself or his team have extended durations (27% more).

Glimmer Cape’s duration is normally 5 seconds. But when Largo uses it, the duration increases to 6.35 seconds. Solar Crest lasts 7 seconds, but when Largo uses it, it lasts almost 9 seconds.

So, this is why buff-related items like Glimmer Cape, Solar Crest, Lotus Orb, and others are extremely valuable on Largo, hence why he should have a little more farm priority over the team’s other Dota 2 support hero.

Largo Aghanim’s Shard

Largo’s Aghanim’s Shard is extremely useful. The Shard upgrades his innate ability, so whenever he applies a target buff to his allies, he also gets the buff.

This means that, if he uses Glimmer Cape on a teammate, he will also Glimmer Cape himself. So, you’re pretty much getting double the value from such items.

Largo Aghanim’s Scepter

In my opinion, Largo’s Aghanim’s Scepter isn’t as impactful as the other two, but it still has its merits.

His Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade essentially lets him strum two tunes at the same time and start damaging opponents, too. It’s a nice pickup, but it might be too much gold for a typical support Largo to farm every game.

Largo Ability Build and Talents

Typically, you would like to max out Frogstomp first since it’s the ability that will help you farm. Here is the most popular Largo skill build:

​Generally, you don’t want to skill Croak of Genius, even if you’re paired with heroes like Storm Spirit or Leshrac. This is because you’ll essentially be a useless hero without high levels on your Catchy Lick and Frogstomp, and since the mana cost reduction is percentage based, it’ll be more effective in the late game.

Best Largo Item Build in Dota 2

Largo should be played as a hero that buffs his teammates, which is why items that heal or provide unit-targeted buffs work exceptionally well on him. Here are what the best Dota 2 support players are buying on this hero and why.

Holy Locket

Largo is a reliable healer, especially with his ultimate, which heals teammates in a large radius. So, a 15% healing amplification from Holy Locket works exceptionally well. You also get reliable charges that can replenish your mana, given Largo has mana issues.

Aether Lens

As mentioned earlier, Largo is a strength hero that often faces mana issues. He doesn’t have the best base mana regen, which is why Aether Lens’ passive attributes come into play.

Aside from the mana regen, Aether Lens also works well for his spells, particularly Catchy Lick, allowing Largo to reliably save his teammates or pull enemies closer.

Glimmer Cape

We’ve discussed Largo’s innate ability, and he benefits from Glimmer Cape a lot. Being able to apply Glimmer for over 6 seconds becomes a huge advantage, especially when the item also provides additional movement speed.

Solar Crest

Similar to Glimmer Cape, Solar Crest’s duration is heavily increased on allies. They’re getting 2 additional seconds of attack speed, movement speed, and physical barrier. This also changes Solar Crest’s usual 11-second downtime to only 9 seconds.

Aghanim’s Shard

Aghanim’s Shard is a must-have on Largo, but only after you’ve picked up at least a Glimmer Cape or Solar Crest. Remember, since you’re a support, you might also get it for free from the Tormentor.

Lotus Orb

Lotus Orb is an amazing pickup after you grab Aghanim’s Shard. The shield duration is increased, and you can cast it on yourself and an additional ally every time. There’s just so much value from this item.